Japan and Colombia are set to play their third game in Group C at the Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba on June 24th. Colombia currently sits atop of the group with 6 points after beating Greece 3-0 and the Ivory Coast 2-1. Japan on the other hand come into this game needing a win if they want to have any shot of advancing to the knockout rounds. It will be the second time that the two nations face each other with the only other meeting coming when Colombia beat the “Samurai Blues” 1-0.
Colombian coach Jose Pekerman has some decisions to make coming into this one. Colombia has all but secured the first place seed in the group, so it will be interesting to see if some of the regular starters for “Los Cafeteros” will play. James Rodriguez has begun to make a name for himself after two impressive performances that saw him score goals in consecutive games. Pekerman when asked about Rodriguez stated, “He is going to be one of the best players in this World Cup.” The Colombians have perfected the art of the counter attack in their opening two games, so it will be interesting to see how they come out against a Japanese side that has really failed to impress thus far. Pekerman is a coach that takes one game at a time, and he will most likely once again be looking to secure three points against the blues of Japan.
Japan come into this game with the fate of their future in the hands of the Ivory Coast. The only way that they make it through is with a win and an Ivorian loss, or a win and an Ivorian tie, at which point it will come down to goal differential. It will be a mighty tough task for the “Samurai Blues” as the Colombians have been one of the best teams in the tournament thus far. Japan’s coach Alberto Zaccheroni has questioned his team’s mental toughness so far and when asked about their upcoming game he stated, “So far we haven’t proved ourselves up to the expectations we all had. So we will try in these few days to prepare so that in the following match, we will be ‘wearing our Sunday best’ so to say.” The Japanese hopes were laid upon their star players Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa, but both have struggled thus far, with Kagawa surprisingly admitting to his coach that he has lost all of his confidence. The odds of Japan advancing are not favorable, but then again crazier things have happened in sports.
The game will kick off at 4PM EST at the Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba. It can be seen on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and Univision. Providing you have the right cable provider, you will be able to stream all games from WatchESPN directly from here and in Spanish here. Enjoy as “Los Cafeteros” go against the “Samurai Blues” in the final showdown of Group C.
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